What Makes a Good Starter Pistol?

a_deagle10

a_deagle10

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Being all new and such, just getting my restricted's finally after another year (On the 31st) I'm looking into what exactly I should get for a first Pistol for leisure and eventually competition. Personally I love the look of:
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But I'm wondering if something like:
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would be more practical.. I guess what I'm asking is, what should I look for and what would be the best starter pistol for competition and leisure. Price range of say 1300.00
 
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Buy a used brand name .22 pistol and shoot it. Shells are cheaper than center fire pistol and you gets looks of shooting time.
 
Do like I did . I only have one restricted for now. I got a nice ruger 22/45 MkIII , nothing Fancy. I put a little more then 1300 rounds the first week end I got the gun.
costed me less then $100 for my 2 days, Ammo, fuel and lunch included
This would have not been impossible with a .45 or a 9mm

Meanwhile I keep my eyes open for a more expensive toy to shoot, But I think .22 is the first thing you should buy

My 2 noob cents

Also while firing your .22 there is always other club members who give you a weird look wondering what you are firing.
Make a nice Excuse to try there guns and leave them fire a 10 rounds clip from your gun (which cost nothing compare to what you get in return :D)
Last week-end I tried , GLOCK .40S&W , Smith .357 mag, Smith 44 mag , and a CZ 75 9mm

Thats my gun
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that Sig is indeed a nice choice (my girlfriend and I both own one), but it might not be the best choice for a beginner, specially being chambered in the snappy .40S&W.

Listen to volks.
 
I was looking at both of those the other day. :p Funny coincidence.

Do you have much experience with handguns? If not I'd strongly recommend you don't go with that SIG (compact DAO in .40 ;hard to learn on) or a .45 (ammo prices are out there unless you want to reload). SIGs are great little guns and if you want a great started try one of their Classic .22s: P220, P226, or P229. They can all be converted to centrefire for whenever the need arises. :)

If SIG's Classic .22s are out of your price range (they're quite a bit for .22s) then try a Browning Buck Mark or Ruger 22/45.
 
I tend to agree with the others about starting with a .22. Along with this pick up a couple of boxes of 9mm and carry it with you when you go shooting. Ask around about the 9's you see being shot and if they seem willing ask if you can shoot some of your own ammo through their gun. Or if they are .22 curious set up a swap as suggested above.

I started with a 9 but I didn't break all my bad habits and really get good until I started including some .22 mixed in with the 9. I'd shoot a magazine or two of .22 and then immediately pick up the 9 and shoot one mag. The lessesn in grip and trigger control with a nice smooth pull with a follow through after the bang really helped get rid of my flinch and other issues. So not only is the .22 inexpensive to shoot but it'll make you as good a shooter as you can be that much sooner. While I don't regret getting my Shadow as my first gun I know with certainty that it cost me a lot in ammo trying to learn to be a good shooter when what I really needed was that .22.

My only other suggestion is to get a .22 that uses a 45 like grip angle as seen on all the regular center fire semi pistols. This is for the simple reason that it'll be better training and provide familiarity with the center fire gun you'll eventually get. The Ruger shown above is the 22/45 which would be a good option because of the 45 style grip angle vs the Mark I, II and III which use the Luger and Olympic type swept back angle. For this same reason I'd avoid the Beretta NEOS and a lot of the old style target shooting pistols that shared this swept back angle that is more suitable for one handed body sideways style of bullseye shooting. Nothing wrong with any of these guns other than you want to stick to one style of grip angle for now.

As for choosing a center fire gun see if you can try out the ones belonging to other folks at the range. Or if you're within a day drive of one of the big cities that has a Rent-A-Gun range spend the coin to try out as many as they have. Do not take our word on what you should get since we all have chosen for our own reasons and these may not be the same as you. Shoot all the options you can find and keep a notepad with you to note down what you liked and didn't like.

And to get you going decently first time around instead of fumbling like so many of us do here's a couple of links that coach you on the best way to hold a semi pistol. This info makes a huge difference with ANY semi auto pistol.

http://www.handgunsmag.com/tactics_training/combatg_100306/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa50-plo48
 
Samopal said:
I was looking at both of those the other day. :p Funny coincidence.

Do you have much experience with handguns? If not I'd strongly recommend you don't go with that SIG (compact DAO in .40 ;hard to learn on) or a .45 (ammo prices are out there unless you want to reload). SIGs are great little guns and if you want a great started try one of their Classic .22s: P220, P226, or P229. They can all be converted to centrefire for whenever the need arises. :)

If SIG's Classic .22s are out of your price range (they're quite a bit for .22s) then try a Browning Buck Mark or Ruger 22/45.
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Well ya see, I shot the other day with a Ranger 11 (chambered .22 and .40) an M&P 9mm and a Glock 9mm, and I had quite a good consistency with all of them. They were all A's on almost all of my shots and I almost made a smily face with the 8 round clip of the .40 :) it was unreal, just missing one eye. I have lots of experience and good steadyness from shooting both military and civilian.. just getting into handguns thats all.. Of them that I shot, I liked the M&P the best, but getting extra strikers is the problem i guess.. they tend to go on them i hear.
 
start with a 22 cal and when you feel happy, get yourself a higher caliber.

P.S. that will make you feel more at ease with your pistol and start to build a colection.
 
Oh, NOW you mention your background..... :D

If you're considering getting into IPSC production at some point then look over the list of approved guns and also consider not just how well you can shoot slowly but also rapid fire since pretty much every hand gun event other than the PPC and Olympic style bullseye stuff calls for shooting as fast as you can while still managing decent accuracy. For example it's better in an IPSC match to get an even share of Alpha's, Charlie's and Delta's if you can shoot much faster than you can if you take the time to get all A's. They reward speed with moderate accuracy far more than they reward unerring accuracy shot slowly. You just need to avoid the "mikes".

After trying out a bunch of guns I realized I preferred the all steel guns. And of those I liked the CZ Shadow best of all. YMMV of course. And if they shoot a lot of IDPA in your area making the Shadow come in under the weight limit can be a tough one. They really try to push the IDPA shooters towards the more easy to carry guns.
 
a_deagle10 said:
Well ya see, I shot the other day with a Ranger 11 (chambered .22 and .40) an M&P 9mm and a Glock 9mm, and I had quite a good consistency with all of them. They were all A's on almost all of my shots and I almost made a smily face with the 8 round clip of the .40 :) it was unreal, just missing one eye. I have lots of experience and good steadyness from shooting both military and civilian.. just getting into handguns thats all.. Of them that I shot, I liked the M&P the best, but getting extra strikers is the problem i guess.. they tend to go on them i hear.
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Well in that case the P229 SAS or G21 would both work. :) They're both very fun to shoot, I'm sure you'll have a blast.
 
I am training a friend to shoot. He bought both a 22 and a 9mm (Ruger and Sig). he is starting to shoot decent groups with the 22, but still has problems with 9mm.

22 is cheaper, more accurate and a better learning tool than centre fire.

My son bought the Sig 22 with a 40 cal conversion kit. That is a nice set up.

I shoot a Ruger 22 Mk1.
 
Here is the best thing you can possibly do and I hope you other guys will back me on this. I have been shooting only for a year now and everyone is right about a .22 as the best starting place but i found that it just was more fun with a bigger caliber and 9mm isn't too harsh for recoil. So what I did was buy a CZ 75, and a .22lr Kadet Kit. This allows the same pistol to shoot both 9mm and .22lr, and you will develop your skills much quicker and not develop a flinch. This same option exists for the glock 17, with a .22lr conversion. You will probalby be able to go either way for 1300 bucks. The glock and cz both retail for about 700 bucks and the .22lr kit can be had for 500 or less. I actually had the CZ but traded it to a member at my club for the glock, but I still continue to use the .22lr quite a bit. Either way you will be happy. I just like the glock better but the Advantage arms .22lr kit only functions well with high velocity .22lr, so I like the CZ with the kadet kit if you want to shoot the cheapest .22lr. But they are both awesome.
 
a_deagle10 said:
Well ya see, I shot the other day with a Ranger 11 (chambered .22 and .40) an M&P 9mm and a Glock 9mm, and I had quite a good consistency with all of them. They were all A's on almost all of my shots and I almost made a smily face with the 8 round clip of the .40 :) it was unreal, just missing one eye. I have lots of experience and good steadyness from shooting both military and civilian.. just getting into handguns thats all.. Of them that I shot, I liked the M&P the best, but getting extra strikers is the problem i guess.. they tend to go on them i hear.
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I've got two spare strikers (as of Monday). And more are on the way. One is yours if you want it.
 
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